Time Sought On Dna Tests

Many Inmates Would Lose Right To Appeal

Court Is Asked For Additional Year

September 18, 2003|By Anthony Colarossi orlando sentinel

Seeking to extend an Oct. 1 deadline that will block hundreds of state inmates from learning if DNA evidence might prove their innocence, the Florida Bar filed an emergency petition with the state Supreme Court on Wednesday asking for another year to review the cases.

The Bar is asking to push the deadline to Oct. 1, 2004.

The request stems from a 2001 law that gave Florida's inmates the opportunity to appeal their convictions based on DNA evidence but allowed the prisoners only two years to get the appeals filed.

Many inmates were not aware of the legislation. Others who knew about the law don't have lawyers to help them file appeals.

The Florida Innocence Project and the Florida Innocence Initiative, two groups working on the DNA appeals, have screened hundreds of cases. But they've told the Florida Bar they have a backlog of about 500, where full investigations could not be completed.

Those cases don't involve death sentences, where lawyers are automatically appointed to review appeal options.

"The legislation that established post-conviction DNA-testing procedures provided no funding for the appointment of counsel to handle these motions," states the Florida Bar's petition.

So far, the petition says, only about 30 cases have been assigned to lawyers willing to take them on for no pay.

"The Florida Innocence Project took the position that the pending requests could be screened, investigated and filed efficiently, if given an adequate extension of time," the petition reads.

The October deadline was first enacted as part of the law passed in 2001. The statute affects the state's rules of criminal procedure, on which the Supreme Court may rule. There is some question, however, whether the issue should be addressed by the Legislature.

Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, the bill's original sponsor, has said the law may need to be amended, but any legislative change would not come until next year at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the court will decide whether to have oral arguments on the issue before ruling on the petition, said Supreme Court spokesman Craig Waters.

Attorney Jennifer Greenberg, who heads the Florida Innocence Initiative, thinks the added time could help her team review many more backlogged cases.

"We would be thrilled to achieve a one-year extension," Greenberg said. "It's an emergency petition, and it truly is an emergency situation. It's a lot of folks."